Rassemblez Papillon
by So Guhn
Summary: She was here to catch the butterflies. [Collection of SakuSasuSasuSaku, ItaSasu, ItaSasuSaku drabbles]
1. Red

A/N: Drabbles. Drabbles that can't be drabbles since they appear to be too long- but they are drabbles. I don't know; figure it out on your own. Why am I doing this to myself?

Disclaimer: Naruto and such, belongs to Masashi Kishimoto and its other respected owners not me.

Title: Red  
Rating: PG-13.  
Pairing: ItaSasu. Kinda  
Summary: They both wore red.

Their swords clash, and Itachi knows that this one time, he will not be the victor.

There is blood on his hands, in his hair, tainting his soul and he almost laughs meekly.

"I..." Sasuke says catching Itachi's attention again. There is blood on _his_ hands, in _his_ hair, and tainting _his_ soul, as well. Itachi smiles slightly and Sasuke's eyes flash with hatred.

"...will kill you," their swords become unlocked, Sasuke arching his up, the bright silver flashing and Itachi recognizes it from the sword of _that _day.

"Red," Itachi murmurs, is eyeing the blood softly flowing down across his younger brother's face; his eyes... black again casually drawing out what will be the _end_.

"Does not suit you," Sasuke is thrown back, even if he wears an Akatsuki cloak as well, even if he has the same eyes, even if he is just as strong, it will not matter; Itachi scoffs- _if he is not stronger._

Sasuke knows that as well.

The air is cold, and the night is near.

"Shut up," he says and he is not quiet, he is loud and thunderous, a storm. His eyes, the sharingan contorted, mixing into the red. Black is of his hair and clothes; his eyes are red are not like Itachi's anymore. "_you…"_

A cut to the red cloud on Itachi's cloak and Itachi returns the favor.

"Know nothing!" desperation and feeling, that was all his little brother had wasn't it? Feeling, without power would it be enough? No, Itachi thinks coldly it isn't.

But it is.

Soon he lies on the floor, the grass drowning in…

"A sea of blood," the boy's, the soon to be last Uchiha voice says quivering in complete horror. Sasuke's eyes are shaking- he is shaking. Almost frantically he clutches his shaking head, fingers twisted in dark blue strands. In denial he cries out. "Why?"

Itachi remembers that Sasuke is like a storm; the approach slow and dramatic, the arrival fierce and full of its long building ill-content. He can feel the beating of his heart slowing and for once his feels relieved.

"Why is nii-san in a sea of blood?" tears are running down Sasuke's face now and Itachi sighs. Even the end is not the end, and he finds while the burden has been lifted, he still cannot- will not go to the grave in peace.

Why was he not expecting this?

And it is Sasuke's fading voice which carries him into death.


	2. Apple

Title: Apple  
Rating: PG. I don't believe in the 'G' rating.  
Pairing: SakuSasu. It's better than SasuSaku.  
Summary: She had strong hands.

Disclaimer: Naruto and such, belongs to Masashi Kishimoto and its other respected owners not me. I make no money off of this, I swear.

"Akatsuki," she says, voice strong. She is not one to hesitate where hesitation is not needed. The sun shines off the pink of her hair, her shadow trailing across the white wall hiding the setting sun.

"It is time we finish them off," her eyes are narrowed and Sasuke marvels at the hidden strength Sakura has had forever; disguised in a cape of faulty words and misjudged guidance. She reaches out a gloved hand towards him and he takes it heart beating rapidly.

"Yes," he says with resolve; but hers is twice as strong and he is almost grateful for it.

The end is approaching soon he reasons; this moment had it coming…

He hears the rush of the water hitting the shore. One day, he swears to himself he will dance with her across the shore; and the ocean will share their delight and sorrow. And maybe, he thinks distantly the clan would be revived.

But first Itachi must die.

She turns her back on him, his hand in hers and the ring on her back reminds him of apples.


	3. By the Sea

A/N: I knew it. I just noticed 'Tea' rhymes with 'Sea'. Kukuku…

Disclaimer: Naruto and such, belongs to Masashi Kishimoto and its other respected owners not me.

Title: By the Sea  
Rating: PG-13-ish.  
Pairing: SakuSasu. Tiny, tiny OMG where? OroSasu.  
Summary: She would take him to the beach.

"Tea," She says, inner voice for once hesitant to voice out her true thoughts. "Again?" a hand rises to brush a loose strand of hair away from her face, and she blushes at the brief contact of his white hand.

"Yes," he says patiently. The room is warm from the steam and she feels odd in a kimono, not at all comfortable like him. The silk is far too expensive, and the design of a beauty far beyond her own, she feels like fake chocolate wrapped in a silver lined box.

He pours, and she finds herself disgusted and sick of the falling liquid. She enjoys the craftiness put into the poem on her porcelain tea cup; it is white a lotus blossom accompanying the seemingly drifting ink characters.

She takes a sip when he is done and changes her mind. His tea is the best after all.

"Thank you," she says and takes another sip, he shakes his head dismissively, the white of his skin contrasting with the dark black silk, ordinate fans of his clan embroidering the sleeves, thin white vines curling around them. Hers is white and red commas border it. She hides a forming smile behind the tea cup; for once Orochimaru is not sharing the tea with them; she laughs lightly and Inner Sakura shakes her head in annoyance.

"What is it?" Sasuke asks, blank faced as usual, he has poured himself some as well and glances curiously from the cup to her.

"Nothing," she answers, she doesn't really enjoy tea, but she is glad she doesn't have to share with the snake. Her smile is coy and growing, carefully as Sasuke looks away to regain concentration on the flower on his own tea cup she tucks in the bottom corner of her kimono that had been stained red the day before. Her socks had been stained as well but they were carefully tucked up underneath her and she had nothing to worry about.

She was sure if Sasuke knew the truth any way he wouldn't mind. It was nothing a small trip to the ocean couldn't fix, he liked the sea.

Come to think of it, she leaned across the small table and touched his hand, enjoying the feel of his smooth skin underneath hers once again.

"How about we go to the sea today?" she says warmly, happy to see a flicker of excitement cross the usually stoic face on the one whom always pours the tea.

"Really?" he asks politely and softly, she wants to hold him in her arms; but deem it not the time. He seems unsuspicious of her actions so she decides she'll tell him when he's notice how the sand sparkles under moonlight as well.

She nods.

By the sea, she sighs convectively sipping her near empty cup, is when she'll tell him that she's seen to it that Orochimaru can't have him anymore. _Also,_ Inner Sakura whisper fiercely in her head, that he's _hers _now.

"We'll leave at dusk, is that alright my Sasuke-kun?" Sakura says the steam from the tea near gone.

This time he nods.

She likes the sea as well.


	4. Even Rivers Cannot Separate Us

A/N: I wanted to write something climatic but I guess it really wasn't meant to be.

Also longest title I've ever had on something. Bloody hell, five words?

Disclaimer: Naruto and such, belongs to Masashi Kishimoto and its other respected owners not me.

Title: Even Rivers Cannot Separate Us  
Rating: PG-13-ish. I wanted it to be creepy but it came out cheesy.  
Pairing: SasuSaku, vague ItaSasu. But not really.  
Summary: He stops and she goes.

"Please," this is the first time she has ever heard him utter those words and she really wished it wasn't at a time like this. _Any other time but-_

"What it is?" she whispers and holds him close, the blood turning the black of his clothes to a dark dark crimson. His blood is seeping, in rivers, flowing in a lazy stream across his white skin and onto the already bloody ground. She has never felt so much regret that he. Of all people would-

"Why did you protect me?" tears are dripping down her face now and they are rivers as well, she smiles softly and recalls a time when she would have given anything to be with him; she almost had committed suicide _Nakano River _inner Sakura smirks. She shuts out confidential papers on the Uchiha clan and knows she really wishes to wash her hands.

Instead she grips only tighter around his torso, allowing her head to lean forward to his, rubbing her cheek against what has to be silkier hair than hers _was it always this soft? Even before the chuunin exam? _He whispers back and she closes her eyes. She does not believe he can die. Itachi is alive, so therefore Sasuke is alive. Right?

"Your hair," she shakes her head and she chokes on words she wishes to say but they once again cannot be uttered _right _when he reaches a shaking hand to briefly touch hanging locks.

"Your eyes," he rises and she cannot find the will or heart or _unselfishness _to stop him and softly he kisses her each eye in a silent form of hidden longing.

"Your smile," and this time she isn't smiling at him, she can't; but he is at her and it's almost too lonely to look at.

"Don't die," she says choking on her words, a bitter resentment threaten to fill her, why was it always like this why was she always the weak one? Did she not swear the day Naruto came back Sasuke not by his side that she would become stronger and protect _them all? _

He shakes his head and she wants to die along side him. She didn't want this life this-

"Forgive me," her head jerks forward at his still softly spoken words and she knows these minutes are his last. The ninja of the Akatsuki are powerful, and have very little understanding for the word mercy even if they understand control. And Sasuke, he knew that… so the last two-

"But I must ask you to bear my selfishness once again," he hunches over shoulders sharp bony things under her fingers she wonders if he fights with these as well, and almost hurriedly he coughs up blood. It stains his lips as he pulls back and she wants to lick it off.

He looks up at her lashes flickering heavenward and he seems to be almost smiling with his eyes for once; but his mouth is set in a firm line once again. "Avenge me,"

His body sits cold in her lap, the expense the second to last member of the Akatsuki, and she swears that her life is his, always has been and will still be even if he has passed to the place of death.

She embraces him against her for the first and last time before setting his body against the cold ground and steadying her shaking legs as she rises up preparing to become a mountain she swears one more thing. _I will avenge you. _

_A river cannot separate us. _She wants to lean forward and kiss him farewell but it is not the time for that. The time for that will surely come later, when the task appointed to her now would be done and she herself may join him.

_Later. _Water would flow for her. His _blood _would flow because of her. In rivers like Sasuke-kun's had.

Turning her body in a quick fluid motion _like you_, hand quick to retrieve silver needles, she doesn't care for the aura of one who was cheated seething before her, she only looks into his eyes and says one thing. One final thing to the last member of Akatsuki before; she charges in attack. In _her _quest no- duty of revenge.

"Uchiha Itachi," her breath harsh and her eyes in equal tone, "you and me…" she raises her head high and she knows she would have made a splendid Uchiha "will join your otoutou soon."


	5. Shizuka

A/N: I'm trying to practice my creepy. It's not coming out.

Disclaimer: Naruto and such, belongs to Masashi Kishimoto and its other respected owners not me. –goes to eat an organic cookie-

Title: Shizuka  
Rating: PG?  
Pairing: SasuSaku  
Summary: The village of Oto plays many different notes.

"Would it be alright?"

She asks this and he does not answer.

It hangs out the high stuck note, clear but wavering in the still night air. He wants to answer but his words will only come out in distorted sound and he cannot bear to answer in any other way.

"Is this right?"

Nothing is right he wants to say, not his longing or his need, the image of her soft smiles and equally soft pink hair, nor the blood thirst for revenge gained by the many ghosts of his kin. Was it really? Gained by ghosts and he remembers he is just a test and shudders.

The words will not flow, nor move, the sound he makes no one hears. It has been forever that he cares that to be so. A shinobi needs nothing of emotions or worldly noise. The village of sound made sure that lesson was clear and he thought it reason.

Until now.

"I don't mind," Sakura says clearing her throat, Sasuke doesn't like to talk or make any form of noise. It's eerie how even when he moves, you can't even hear the effects of rustled clothing. She wants to sigh but think it of poor manner; she is almost tired and weary, but so happy to be_ his_ again.

She starts when he moves un-humanly fast to her side again; across the room, across the table, across the bed. To the comfortable corner where she has placed her pillow. Hands place delicately over her round belly, he is being usually gentle and she smiles.

"Two more months," she says "then the baby will come."

He almost seems to nods but instead holds her against him and he softly hums in a coordinated way that sounds too much like the code they use in the sound village for her comfort. But she will be alright she thinks; she's strong now and a medic-nin. No song in this village could harm her. And she knows Sasuke wouldn't allow them to reach her ears any way.

It is quiet here.


	6. Rain and Wax

Disclaimer: Naruto and such, belongs to Masashi Kishimoto and its other respected owners not me.

Title: Rain and Wax  
Rating: PG…ish.  
Pairing: SasuSaku  
Summary: Her ears are not full of wax.

---

"It's raining again," she tells him; half frustrated that all she receives as a reply is an 'Hn' and the usual glazed over look she's seen all too many times. She rocks her body back and forth for a few minutes, stretching out the tense muscles of her back before rising to seat herself by Sasuke who is reading at the foot of the futon, body lay out across on his stomach.

But she cannot blame him.

For it is raining.

She sidles beside him, glancing at the blue-black hair and wonders what their children will look like.

Carefully she slips off her _hitaiate _and slides it over his forehead, bangs hovering over the metal; as his head is bowed low in mock pray or sleep Sakura doesn't know.

He makes a movement with his hands as if to stop her but carefully and sure as autumn wind she flicks his hand away. She ties the band around his head securely and scoots a bit to the side, head curving front and forward to look at her handiwork in the dim lighted room. Only one candle was burning.

"What is it?" he asks carefully. His voice is somewhat hushed from the pouring rain.

Sakura then can only smile "It certainly doesn't suit you," and she moves to take it off, hands swift with dealing away with the knot. Sasuke's hands are just as fast and he lays them over her own. To still them; he seems almost hesitant to do so.

He lets them go as quickly as he had touched them and allowed to remove it and place it back on the original owner. She's still smiling.

"But then again the Sound _hitaiate_ doesn't suit you either," Sasuke turns to gaze at her blankly and just for a moment she thought his eyebrows rose up a bit.

She is content here in Sound. _For now._ Inner Sakura grumbles; she reaches over and casually flicks Sasuke across the forehead. "Ma, this will just have to stay out in the open, ne?"

And she has turned her head too quickly away to see the widening of his eyes of the faint blush on his cheeks.

But she is not deaf.

Her heart goes cold when she hears him whisper, "Nii-san,"


	7. Vibrancy to Zero

A/N: Really, really old fic idea I had that just didn't come through. Yet I must inflict. BAD FIC. . -eye twitches- (Itachi is just so hard to write…-dies-)

Disclaimer: Naruto and such, belongs to Masashi Kishimoto and its other respected owners not me.

Title: Vibrancy to Zero  
Rating: R  
Pairing: ItachixSasuke; some SasukexSakura if you squint.  
Summary: The seasons were surely 'over done'.

_It is in the spring…_

That he comes walking down the stone path through the gardens of the main house of Uchiha. And for a while he is content, for the garden is beautiful, graced from the love and care of his mother; the love and care she only graciously gives to the flowers of earth and not to the flowers of herself. But he is fine with that and finds the over hanging clouds not a nuisance but a common presence that follows him everyday.

He walks slowly, for he has just finished a mission, and while he is a prodigy he is not immortal; and thus is able to feel weariness. Weariness of the drying blood of his enemies on his clothing, seeping through and through to his bones trying to taint what has been tainted for years. The afterthought is that the blood is of Konoha's enemies and he nearly grits his teeth in frustration.

Dusk is approaching, but the sun is hidden by the clouds and he thinks of the tatami mats in his home.

It is here that the path curves and a few sakura trees litter the ground with their petals.

It is in one of those trees a little boy is dangling his legs off one of the branches while he curiously touches petals within his reach. And he is so beautiful Itachi thinks. For how can he not be? He is an Uchiha. A ninja from blood of the highest class, the strongest clan- it seemed foreign to Itachi to think of his little brother of something other as such.

He feels nothing during the day. Time passing in colourless landscapes and people talk in different tongues that is only incoherent babble to him. But when he is home; the little brother- is waiting. Perched in this tree, and Itachi can see the different shades, the tones, and vibrancy he has been missing. And he understands everything.

And he is confused.

For he feels he understands nothing.

Sasuke waves a hand from his high perch on the tree. "Welcome back, Aniki!" he cries out somewhat cheerfully and Itachi wonders if in another life his brother would be reborn a bird.

A few minutes drift by and Itachi knows Sasuke is waiting for a response.

"What are you doing?" is all he can offer and his voice for once is not flat, but peppered with a tint of humor and the boy notices.

A pale hand still buried against the petals of flowers gracing the branch (or is it his hand?) and wistfully the boy replies in soft tones something about admiring the sakura.

He only pauses to nods. And he wants to leave- to not leave. The foolish impulse to join his brother up in the high branches compelling and the raw feeling of just wanting to _touch_ the boy is over powering him again and Sasuke breaks into his thoughts with that voice of his- "Did you know okaa-san was going to get married under this kind of tree?"

And Itachi feels one of his eyebrows lifting at the nature of the question's topic and feels unease for some reason.

"Oh? Did she tell you that herself?" and he shuts his eyes to that blushing face and misses his little brother's nod. "Are you going to achieve what she could not accomplish?"

Sasuke gives him a look that can only be described as 'regarding him oddly' and Itachi would have nearly laughed at the expression had his eyes been open. "No, nii-san" he says thoughtfully, a finger on his chin a hand holding onto a branch for balance and Itachi eyes his slender legs thoughtfully. "I'd rather not marry."

Itachi smirks at this.

"But if I were to," the boy isn't trying to come down and Itachi feels compelled to go and _grab_ him, not knowing that he has already made his way to the trunk of the tree, near enough to notice the boy's skin is paler than his white shorts, and how dark his little brother's hair contrasts to the pastel pink of the sakura.

"She would…" and he looks thoughtfully at the petals of the tree and he smiles once again the darken sky an eerily misshapen background and the colour Itachi realizes is _all wrong_ "…have to have hair the colour of _sakura_."

And Itachi reaches up to him.

_It is in the autumn..._

That he teaches the boy how to hold a katana and how to move not like a snake. But a wolf. And he is glad the room is not full of mirrors, but dark wood. So he will not witness where he touches the boy next.

And it isn't a concern on where his hands land, whether on skin or clothing or hair. Sasuke always smiles at him, a nervous look on those pretty features. Not knowing if he is holding the sword wrong, or right- swinging _hard_ enough, _fast_ enough.

Just _enough_.

And Itachi always says he is doing it right, enough. For the boy is. Just enough Itachi thinks to not notice the hand occasionally touching the soft of his thigh, enough he would think to not mind the soft inhales he takes against that silky hair, enough he thinks- the boy with his breathing ragged and panting as he practices hard everyday to not see the bulge in his elder brother's pants. And Itachi _loves _him like that at practice; wants to devour him- his little brother with his sharp breathing and sweaty skin, a small tired body that Itachi will have to carry to bed and tuck in when all is done and complete as a moon will set in the sky.

It will always be enough.

Enough to have him remembering those days to come when the leaves are changing to different shades of grey, quiet but not quiet as he is alone in his room remembering only the sound of the boy' soft gasps and panting breaths as the sharp swish of the katana is brought down in a heavy swing; bracing himself against the pillows on his bed, touching himself at the memory of his little brother against his chest (enough to feel the bone of his spine, his shoulders, let his eyes stare hungrily at the slender back of the neck), allowing his small body be folded into his arms and small hands be placed on the hilt where Itachi wants. _Where he wants_ and that is enough to nearly have him come.

_Enough._

And he forces himself to stop teaching the boy how to use the katana as he notices the mimicry is perfect, but the sword is not.

_It is in the winter…_

That he allows the boy to come into his room. Sleep in his bed as the wind howls at the house and the doors and windows rattle- allows him to bring tea that tastes warm and vaguely sweet because _Sasuke_ made it and Itachi becomes unease at his comfort in those things.

"_Did mother teach you?"_ he had asked and the boy had smiled somewhat coyly at him- and Itachi is aware that there is only one tea cup. And Itachi knows she taught him for a reason, but the reason ended up void.

And he doesn't mind to share, for they were related. _Blood_ something murmurs and Itachi wants to taste his own from the small body curled up besides him comfortably no doubt feeling safe. _And warm_, warm like the tea Sasuke has made, brought from the kitchen, and Itachi lifts the cup to the boy's lips to distract himself from other things, and he enjoys the small movement of Sasuke's swallowing throat, while thinking of the _other_ substances that could be swallowed down it. Attentively he touches at the boy's neck, feeling for the pulse; the other hand moving the cup away to finish the rest in one gulp, remembering the soft lips that had been at the brim of this same cup not seconds ago.

It is while the snow is falling, glowing but grey in the dark of the cold night, that Itachi holds the sleeping boy close and touches him under his clothing (_spiders he will dream of_). Allows a small part of himself to let go, let himself lick against the soft skin of the neck he could not help but touch (when his little brother was aware); and bury his hands in the blue-ebony hair that feels more heavenly then any ceremonial silk he is sure. _So sure._

And he is so sure that the boy is asleep through it all.

_It is in the summer…_

That he kills them all. Will not tolerate them any longer; they who are his bridges and walls. And at last he thinks of Sasuke, how he is the last and Itachi's. _But_, and the thought vibrates through out his mind for what seems like centuries- why did he want the boy in the first place? The question he cannot answer; many images flash through his head and he denies that they are his answer- (_soft smiles, silky blue hair, long slim fingers, eyes that were like the bottomless sea, and the one voice that would resound forever in his head-_)And Itachi knows he has gone mad.

The katana is heavy in his hand. It is old and a part of him feels it came from another clan. _A clan the Uchihas had destroyed long ago._

The blood does not bother him. He calmly waits for the boy to move through the doors- for he knows he is there. Can hear the terrified gasps on the other side of the double doors and feels strangely aroused by it (_something about holding hands while sitting on the dock and learning new moves with shuriken while being struck by fate just by seeing nothing into the see through dark of a lake_)- but that does not matter and he waits.

The doors open and a frantic voice that is hurt and confused and demanding reaches his ears- there is something like a flute being swiftly played- Itachi cares not for the words but the tone and he moves quickly to dispose of Sasuke's questions, his frantic antics.

And the raw look, the confusion- Sasuke's expression makes him feel nothing (_but something as all words are choked in his throat so he just forgets them and drifting, the over hanging light behind his eyes will not distract him)_ and he wonders if he really cared for the boy at all (_and he does, though even now when he has achieved what should have not been achieved he refuses to admit, admit to the nights of need and longing for the small beauty that is his little brother)_.

And he shows him his lovely gift.

He loves him. Loves him so much that he _cannot bear it._ Cannot stand it, the prodigy that he was- cannot comprehend it- and nothing _is enough_ to be _allowed._ That small little dark secret he has reserved to tell the one person who is not a corpse. The only person, who is crying bitterly, is small and helpless, left with tattered dreams Itachi (_that had been foreseen in a flower and a looking glass long ago)_- thinks and he moves only to hold his dear little brother in a mock embrace that older brothers are _suppose_ to give to crying little brothers. And how he wishes to laugh, but a tug is in his chest and he remembers something that is only a shadow, an old photo that has reached a fade away- of Sasuke's smile; the boy's stilling body with its movements of only the shaking of pure terror. And his eyes, his beautiful dark eyes that made Itachi think of black whirlpools and cloudy skies are moist with tears and cored with betrayal- so Itachi wonders _what has he done?_

But it- what he has done- has been done. And no man can change (_and change is what he wished for_), turn back time (_time that has damned him and enclosed him for so long_, _that as it breaks the shards cannot pierce the twist of numb inside him)_ so he shudders slightly and does not regret.

Little brother is weak, and small, and so lovely- and Itachi hates _(loves, accepts, does not think of a full moon or promises_) himself for taking advantage of those facts; if only for a fleeting second, but that is not enough to stop him. Convince him to stop the actions of what he has wanted to do _forever_, even if they are _wrong_.

And soon the boy is on his knees, both their bodies' inches from the dead corpses of their parents, and Itachi does not mind (_he never minds and he thinks himself foolish just this once_). So he is a bit disappointed that the boy on the other hand- _does_.

He places, a hand (_that is large he notices, for it covers not only his mouth but covers the whole of his chin and curls past to a good space of the boy's neck_) over his mouth as he fits his body over him, presses against him harshly into the hard wood floors. The only sounds in the room he hears sobbing gasps and soft tearful begging words for _Aniki to stop._ And Itachi loves those words, _trick dog who loves attention, worthless, spineless, you quiet fool,_ he regards himself as-

Sasuke's fingers are quite small, and they grip against his shoulders somewhat painfully.

_It is in the-_


	8. Ame

Disclaimer: Naruto and such, belongs to Masashi Kishimoto and its other respected owners not me.

Title: _Ame_  
Rating: PG  
Pairing: SakuraxSasuke  
Summary: She was foolish.  
Word count: 252

"Was it a lie?" she asks him and her voice shakes, the rain flowing like rivers across deserts; over them. Cold and sustaining. _My heart. _

"No," he answers softly, resemblance to softly hissing snakes. She feels uncomfortable and terror is swift to fill her.

"Don't die," she cannot save him, out of charka, out of luck. _Not that you had much of it anyway you foolish girl_. The voice is harsh and lashing like the fires he would use to create.

He shakes his head in denial or agreement, she knows not which. Red blood slips, an overflow from his mouth carried away by the falling rain.

_Rain. _

Her sobbing cries do not reside. Hair she did not attended to matted and wet across her brow, power she only gained for him wasted in trial and error.

He looks up at her, face blank, but eyes illusionary moist from the sky's tormented reflection. _Is it? Mirrors._

"Please take them,"

Her eyes widen and she feels the intended pun, "No," but she knows she would.

He shakes his head and almost chuckles- he smiles and it is something she has been waiting for forever. She wants to pardon her gasp when she hears his words, but none would be graceful enough even to his corpse. "Foolish girl,"

And she takes them.

His pride.

His future.

His inheritance.

Him.

His eyes are hers now and she doesn't want them.

The rain stops.

And she notices that the tears running down her face aren't hers.


	9. Oyasumi nasai

A/N: Supposed to be writing fic for a community on livejournal; it feels weird to have a deadline. And to be writing something someone wants written.

I kind of feel like an Ayanami Rei.

I felt the need to do a drabble.

Damn movie.

Disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to me; it and everything related officially belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.

Title: Oyasumi nasai  
Rating: PG-13  
Pairing: SakuraxSasuke  
Summary: It was snowing.  
Word count: 171

"Sakura," He says to her and she doesn't to believe the happiness in his eyes for this moment- _oh god. _She cradles his head on her lap, hands delicately moving through the silky blue-black hair _I'll tear it_ the snow making the world white and far too un-surreal for her tastes. She is bitter even as the sun blinds eyes that were used to looking too far ahead.

"I did it," and he's laughing, _laughing-_ the sound is too foreign from him and she can't help up feel _this isn't Sasuke-kun._

_Traitor. _

_You who are such to your own heart._

She doesn't say these words aloud but she knows he can hear them.

And he sees everything

Itachi watches them impassively even in his grave.

She will not have this. And slowly, an act detesting while gentle she kisses him on the forehead. "Oyasumi,"

It is not the frigid temperature of snow that makes his body so cold.

_I_

Swiftly with precision she brings his katana to her neck.

And through.


	10. Alterna

Title: Alterna  
Rating: PG  
Pairing: Abstract-ish ItaSasu+SasuSaku; I'm not so sure.  
Summary: He wonders if he can bury the body under such a snow.  
Word Count: 164

He decides to shift to the grave. Fingers touch his cheek gently and only then he realizes that-

"Tears?" he says voice hushed near silent to the falling snow, "I'm crying?"

He looks up to the sky, neck arching forward, his body feels almost warm despite the cold. _What is this…_

He wants to deny it is feeling.

_Nii-sama…what should I do?_

He remembers briefly. Hands lifting, soft and hovering over him. He was fragile then, and more so now. He understands this, and yet-

_What does this mean?_

Brother is crouching besides him and he feels nothing.

_What has happened?_

She smiles and he wants to smile back, but-

"Sasuke," Itachi says, voice a stilling river. "Let us go,"

Sasuke cannot rise; _is there no alternative? _He cannot smile.

The blood decorating the snow are the only sakura petals left in this world. _What a cold place. This world. _Itachi glances back at him.

He will not let her go.

_This girl. Sakura._

_Turn your head._


	11. Simple

A/N: Damn. Started this out as a second POV; then switched to my usual third. This was supposed to be OroSasu too. But some where around sentence four I decided to go SakuSasu on it.

Ah well another time.

Disclaimer: Naruto (etc) belongs to Masashi Kishimoto not I.

Title: Simple

Rating: PG… ish.

Pairing: SasuSaku/SakuSasu; little to none ItaSasu.

Summary: She can only remember the design.

Word count: 376

It is raining.

Alone he is, under a beautiful umbrella- it is scarlet and lined with elegant strokes of wispy ebony, curling around the ridges of wood. Water lightly dapples over its waxed exterior.

She remembers seeing him for the first time.

He is beautiful.

His skin is as white as milk, hair the colour of a deep dark sea, his eyes are a smoky grey, but they are not unclear. _Softly,_ softly it must be.

She approaches him.

The day is with her.

But the rain is not.

She parts her lips to speak. None of it touches the air; he looks at her sullenly with miraculous grey eyes that only reflect the hidden discord in the calm before the storm. _Softly, _softly it seems to you he takes three steps toward you.

"Thank you," he says quietly you faintly catch it, entangled are the butterfly's wings in the silvery net. "For coming," his eyes flicker downward and briefly she thinks he is looking at her breasts, but that cannot be so. She feels her cheeks burn slightly from embarrassment and the cold. _Don't run awa-_

She catches the startling movement of his eyelashes flickering upwards, her heart skips a beat. _Sasuke-kun._

"Sakura," he almost murmurs, and she knows no one can ever say her name in such a way that will have her knees weaker than a baby calf's nor cause the rapid fluttering sensation in her abdomen. _Glossy, _she almost thinks, eyes briefly glancing at his moving lips.

Carefully he takes her hands in his _how slender and small his are, like twin bir- _almost cruelly her inches his face closer to hers.

"Will you…" he trails off and diverts his head to the right, eyes downcast once again flickering up in resemblance to wings a flutter. She cannot believe the soft pink flush that spreads across his cheeks and neck, she watches breath baited. She knows this feeling of anticipation like no other.

Swiftly, his lips press against her forehead and his muffled words come out, lashing and cold as the ocean's waves. She knows he will not meet her eye to eye tonight.

She tells him yes, but her eyes regretfully say no.

She is not Itachi.

Her eyes are green.


	12. Repetition

Note to self: Stop writing drabble-ish things you idiot.

A/N: Watched Maria-sama ga Miteru; Rosa Gigantea I love your hair. (Anyone not understanding this? Alright.) I must now hunt an FL for Sei-kun…

Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto; not I.

Title: Repetition  
Rating: PG-13.  
Pairing: SasukexItachi, hinted Shisui+Itachi.  
Summary: It snowed the same.  
Word Count: 289

"My face," he says his words are soft and caresses the shifting flakes of snow; his eyes flash a double reflected blue from the water and the sky. They are not his eyes.

"My voice," it is deeper but serene, yet light and Itachi knows these things and yet- _Who are you-?_

Sasuke touches his hair thoughtfully; it is messily short but longer than his last hair length. It brushes in uneven locks against relaxed shoulders. He wears a black kimono with only the fan. His hair is a black shifting away from the dark dark blue.

"My hair,"

Itachi moves forward. Now he is the _last._

"All these things," his dear little brother is still talking, voice serious and dangerously moving with a still-born fierceness that pierces through his usual façade. Itachi shivers and Sasuke leans close, they are hip to hip now, the boy pressing one of his pale pale hands against his chest.

"Are the same," Itachi's sword is useless here, broken in a symbolist three. Sasuke steps back removing himself flicks his hands and Itachi allows himself to become entangled in the wires and_ the truth._

"Is this why you didn't want to kill me nii-san?" Sasuke's hands _slender and twin too _reach and cup his face; the hands are expectantly warm. _Yes _he wants to reply. He says nothing.

Sasuke kisses him tenderly on the lips. _So warm._

"Because what is mine is _his_?" the wire cuts deep and that is fine, Itachi feels. Sasuke would lick all the blood away later. His blood, Sasuke's and-

"Shisui-san's."

Itachi touches his lips to Sasuke's new old hair.

_Don't move an inch._

He smiles against his neck and Sasuke's breath fans out in a rising cloud.


	13. Ashita

A/N: Drabble for episode 109; chapter 181. Every SasuSaku fan has at least thought of one.

Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. Not me. No.

Title: _Ashita_  
Rating: PG.  
Pairing: SasuSaku  
Summary: It was a ring.  
Word Count: 136

_My hand._

She looks at it curiously before alarm runs through her and she remembers-

"Sasuke-kun!"

She raised with a jolt, a lump in her throat, her eye lids feel heavy and she knows she has cried. _Where are you?_

The path is empty and her hand is heavy as well.

The dawn shines briefly through old trees and the wind chills her. Silver glints and the engraved characters are put into light; their crevices a shadow blue.

_Ring?_

On her finger. It's simple, the shiny band wrapped delicately on her left hand; the ring finger. She knows he can lie, and yet she does not hesitate. She can sleep so much.

She accepts his promise.

_Tomorrow. _She says this word and swears something that will only rise on the red dawn.

She makes her own.


	14. Speculating

A/N: Set after Chapter 284; I think Sai's a wonderful replacing bastard (I hope Sasuke beats him up for calling Sakura ugly. XD) Made with the Paranoia Agent opening playing, and Shimako fanart in mind.

Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto and not me.

Title: Speculating  
Rating: Pg-13  
Pairing: Hinted SakuSasu (etc)  
Summary: She wasn't good at running.  
Word Count: 538

Her hair is a mess, it plasters to her brow and cheeks. The sweat on her face tastes salty and runs in mimicking rivulets. She gulps in the needed breaths she has lost. '_You like to run don't you'? she asks him._ The pace- 'P_erhaps' he replies his eyes agree and she watches fascinated at the sweat sliding down the back of his white neck, casually curves around the seal of heaven as if- _

"Don't move!" she cries out to the two behind her. Naruto. Sai. One is her dear friend. The other an unknown voice.

The figure in front her is the only familiar illusion in her mind. She wants to see it. Feel it. The pace. "You," she says voice quite, shaking in fear or awe she cannot see a difference. Her beating heart is hurting.

Her feet thud hollowly on the rotting wood of the bridge over heaven and earth. The midday sun burns briefly, tireless- shedding light over the red kimono, small curling blossoms of purple intertwining though out it, the obi matching in royalty. Long locks of blue hair are neatly tied back in the knot of a white ribbon. The dark basket hat looks deceivingly heavy and metal, shadowing a face shielded by bangs that brush the covered collarbone.

The wind passes by and the grass rustles, as the leaves and branches do. She hears the clear sharp ring of the bell. _A snake is coming. _She must ask quickly.

"I heard the rumor," Sai's voice cuts through her own mute one. She cannot look back at him whilst agitated at his forwardness. The figure in front of her is as silent as she. They only turn to incline the head to the side in a false curiosity.

"That _he_ was still alive," Naruto tenses besides Sai and Sakura feels her fists ache.

"So," Sai continues the sick smile she's come to hate sliding onto his face. He looks carefree and dangerous. "Are you Uchiha Shisui of the mirage?"

The person moves, body tense and ready to strike _the snake is here_ beneath the folds of silk fabric. As he faces them Sakura notices immediately that it is almost entirely covered with drying blood.

"I am,"

_What? _Sakura feels her eyes widen and she can't stop the surprised gasp that flies out of her.

The figure turns their back on them and proceeds to greet the snake.

Orochimaru is calm under the heavy drooping branches that shade his presence, a seen smile spreading in a traditional greeting. She feels a scream climb up her throat and Naruto starts to move forward in agitated anger. He does not make it past her. Sai holds his sword carefully.

"Such a lovely kimono… It suits you." Orochimaru's hand slides down the outline of Shisui's neck and Sakura shivers as a cold spreads across her abdomen, Naruto is trembling in barely compressed rage besides her.

"What have you been up to Sasuke-kun?" he says familiar words.

And Sakura hears the smirk in his response, "Nothing,"

Her feet forget to move; Naruto has broken long used steel already darting forward in a god-speed blur. Sai is the only one using his head.

The pace was only a mirage.


	15. Deep

A/N: Sai mentioning. I don't know; I'm bored and uneager to finish my science/every-other-class's homework.

Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto, not I.

Title: Deep  
Rating: PG-13  
Pairing: SasukexSakura  
Summary: The water wasn't that deep, her legs caused ripples to appear as she was stepping in.  
Word Count: 469

"Do you want to kill me?" His eyes mock her, deceivingly navy blue as the water reflects darkly against his pupils, irises. His voice isn't as it should be. Strikingly feminine and malicious it craves something she can never give.

She shakes her head, the borrowed katana locking with Sasuke's. It is undamaged and the blade reflects the moonlight in a sliver of an arch, achingly reminding her of the cuts inflicted on her by the unyielding blade against one not her own. Sai treats the blade well- made it well- summoned it- she does not know. It was born of ink.

He isn't as he should be, she reasons to herself. Her reason is false and she tries to forget Naruto's shaking voice and harsh tone as he angrily argues with the clever Sai.

"_He will not want to return home," Sai's voice is light, the tone own uses when speaking of nice weather. Naruto answers back apparent denial and anger crossing over distressed features._

"_Shut up!" Sai does not and will not, almost humming as he continues._

"_Konoha is not his home-"_

She's overpowered, thrown back. Amazed that he can match her strength- which is so like Tsunade's…

"The sound," Sasuke says, the whiteness of his bare arms obvious unto the sleeveless shirt he wears. A flimsy stretched black, casting over his upper form in a crisp fashion; _military _something in her head murmurs, she wants to run her finger tips on them, beginning to end.

In her ears the ringing sound of repeated clash of their swords casual with every contact, and her pants as she draws in breath. _Strength. _Her vision blurs for some time, his hakama is not red. _Deep deep blue._

"Come home," she whispers fiercely, she doesn't want to loose as Naruto did. They are stronger now.

He shakes his head, not one to repeat words. Her borrowed blade breaks into two, clanging diagonal against aging wood. She feels the danger of an old companion's blade lean against her bruised left shoulder. She has backed up just a little, enough to feel the railing of the bridge beneath her fingers. Red chipping paint gets under her fingernails.

Leisurely he almost smirks at her as he did once before. "I must protect it."

She bites her split lip, regretting it for a second, "Why?"

He closes his eyes, only to open them and allow her to recognize the dark ruby red, comas swirling lazily in clockwise before they bleed into a single ring. She memorizes the ripple patterns as a chill vibrates throughout her body causing her teeth to chatter and her knees to lock. Haunted, she watches as he crouches down; feeling his lips brush lightly against her ear.

"Because you'll be waiting for me there,"

She sleeps in drowning.

_The water…_


	16. Forgetting

A/N: Stupid drabble. (I'm off to eat my spaghetti now.)

Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto, not I.

Title: Forgetting  
Rating: PG  
Pairing: SakuraxSasuke  
Summary: She wants him to remember.  
Word Count: 71

_Do I know you?_

Yes, she thinks she does, heart ache curling around her in a spiteful swirl of wind and the scent of lilies. She dares not say "I love you" again.

"Sasuke!"

He looks at her. He sees her as only a stranger. She cannot forgive Orochimaru; a snake who spirited away her lover's body and mind.

She sets out to dance once again.

_Know me._

He will not.

Sakura is only a blossom on a tree to him.


	17. Many Words

A/N: My gott; I've written something that isn't for the SasuSaku forums or Uchihafest. I must have caught a cold…

Disclaimer: Naruto (etc) belongs to Kishimoto Masashi, and not I.

Title: Many Words  
Rating: Pg  
Pairing: SasukexSakura  
Summary: He said and she said. It didn't matter when it came to home.  
Word Count: 241

He looks away.

He is a conceited creature, only out to do what is best for him. He cannot love her like she wants him to. _Like he wants to._

"Return home!" he shouts at her, katana a shiny black, stained red no more. He cleans the blade everyday, the mirror is enough of a reminder. It hits against hers, so silver it flashes light from the reflection of the moon.

"No," she says looking like she is about to break and pierce through him all at once with the intensity of her beautiful emerald eyes. _I won't let you leave again._

And the feeling. _Sorrow, regret, fear, anger, hatred, love, nostalgia, hopefulness, despair. _It seeps through him and he wants to run. Cling to the existence he has gotten used to. _I want to _live with you. Something yonder is calling in his mind, dying, clawing desperate to be heard- _granted. _And he cannot allow it to overcome him. _I have a goal. _Years of training and making, shaping himself into what he needed to be to kill- conclude with his most important person. _Is he really your important person anymore?_

His eyes seep into red and rings, with swirling comas _I cannot return your love._

He will kill her.

And everything that remains of the hope his heart carries.

_When will morning come?_

"Come home with me,"

He refuses and she still won't give up when the dawn comes.


End file.
